Rating: 
Summary: A step backwards
Review: I have used the DeLorme Street Atlas product for at least seven years now, updating about every other year. This version is a dud, and I wish I had consulted this site before I purchased the 2004 version at a special "upgrade" price. Whether the graphics are better in this version is debatable, but in several respects this version is not as good as previous versions: 1) you must zoom in very close before street details are seen. This prevents you from getting a "big picture" of an area, because you simply don't see many town or street names until you are zoomed in so close that you don't see "ahead" very far. 2) You can no longer store just part of an area on your hard drive. Before if you frequented one or two states, you could store that data on your drive, and you then only used the data disc for checking out other states, thus saving hard disc space. That's no longer possible now - you have to download all the data for the entire product -- a waste. 3) the produce takes a very long time to load; 4) its search functions have become more complex, not simpler; 5) the database has lots of gas stations and restaurants in it, but not many museums or churches. Save your money - check out someone else's product; that's what I'm going to do.
Rating: 
Summary: Delorme getting sloppy, "updated" maps LESS accurate
Review: I mainly want to report the results of an accuracy test. I have Street Atlas USA Deluxe, and bought the 2004 version, along with the Earthmate GPS receiver, hoping to update the map data. My first disappointment was that a street that was on the map in the Deluxe version, and is still there on the ground, was missing from the 2004 version. Then I went looking for a neighborhood where the streets were different in the two versions, and drove around the neighborhood making a GPS log in the 2004 version (which both versions can do conveniently), hoping to verify that the update was more accurate. But when I played the log back on both versions (yes, the newer version writes downward compatible logs), the GPS track followed the streets in the OLDER version, but fell BETWEEN the streets in the 2004 version. And, oh, yes, the exit ramp from the highway is shown in the older version, but in the 2004 version it looks as though I cut across the grass to get to the side street. Look for older versions. Or, if you value accuracy more than the greatest ease of use, get another product. Years ago, Rand McNally was rated more accurate, but less convenient, that the Delorme product, and I could agree with that.
Rating:
Summary: Cumbersome to load, then doesn't work
Review: I recently purchsed this SA USA 2004. Not only was I not able to load this on my computer using all of the instructions included in the case (I had to go to a support site for secret installation instructions). Finally after jumping through the several hoops, I was succesful in getting the program to open.
However, none of the finding or routing features work.
It is not as though I have an exotic computer configuration.
(a Dell Dimension 8200 w/2.0G Pentium IV and 512MB ram with Windows XP.
This software is so full of bugs I can't believe that Delorme, who I thought to be reputable could have released it.
Rating:
Summary: Route is never optimal.
Review: I relied on this software for Cross country road trip from west to east. It helped in listing various routes, points of interests around a particular point with all contact details.
My main issue with this software is the directions were NEVER optimal, we ended up relying on AAA maps instead.
Good software for trip planning , but not for directions.
Rating: 
Summary: Bring back Street Atlas 9
Review: I think I owned every version of the old DeLorme Street Atlas program that came out, from 3.0 on to 9.0. They were the finest mapping programs ever made -- fast, intuitive, accurate. Then DeLorme decided to "improve" it. Gone were the easy-to-use Windows menus and in their place were the most confusing collection of tabs and buttons I have ever seen. I swore I would never buy USA 2004 but my old SA9.0 was getting so out of date. My mistake. I would gladly pay twice the price of Street Atlas USA 2004 for a copy of Street Atlas 10.0. But it was never made. I would have given this program a zero, but the maps are up-to-date and accurate and, if you've never used the old DeLorme Street Atlas, well maybe this one will look okay to you.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Program
Review: I used versions 3,5 or 8 of Street Atlas (for years) and I thought they were great. Despite the bad reviews of 2004, I thought I'd take a chance and buy it. -I'm glad I did. The user interface is a lot different from previous versions, but I like it. I found the new version easy to use and more functional(and I hate to read help files and manuals). I think the routing routine has greatly improved as well as POI labeling and printing options. The new version had no problems (like the earlier versions) of finding routes using country roads.
I do miss the construction and weather updates that Delorme used to provide via the web.
Rating:
Summary: Has DeLorme lost its way?
Review: It is interesting to speculate on the general feeling at DeLorme these days.
Street Atlas 2004 is a genuine turkey, and they must know it. All the previous reviews are accurate, and there's more! They've resurrected the awful "Road Warrior" interface, and made responses slower. The map accuracy is way off from SA 9, streets are not even the same shape as they were.
The GPS accuracy is way off, when the GPS works. I have a mobile setup and so far the GPS tracking works sporadically if at all. There is one feature that I really like, and that is the magnification.
As a registered old fart I really like seeing everything at twice the size. I'll be in Maine next week so I plan to call in to DeLorme to drop off my copy and get my money back. 8-)
Rating:
Summary: Can't recommend it.
Review: Like many others, I've used older versions of this program for years. This version is poor. Five to twelve minutes to load on a Pentium 4, 2.6GHz w/512MB RAM is too much. I also purchased the Handheld version. What a ripoff!! I only need the device drivers but can't get them without purchasing the Handheld software. Even attempting to use that version alone, by installing the data files rather than running from CD results in the program not being able to find the data files. The data files, incidentally, are exactly the same as the standard version but it can't find those either. Not an improved program in my estimation, but a rather poor update. Tech support is useless as they don't even respond to email. They've done such a great job of hiding their phone numbers on their web site that I've given up trying to find one. Would be a long distance call anyway, they dont' have 800 numbers to the best of my knowledge. Unhappy DeLorme customer.
Rating:
Summary: When I find myself wishing for my Rand McNally 1999...
Review: Looking at the rest of these reviews here I see little more that I need to add. I consider myself an above average computer user, and maybe over the years I might actually get used to the really clunky GUI interface and really wierd features of this product, but these days I find myself tempted to reinstall my 1999 mapping software simply because it starts up in a few seconds instead of a few minutes. I guess that means it is time to start shopping for a new product. On my Dell PIII 1ghz laptop with 256Mbytes of memory and the map data stored on the the hard drive I am lucky if I can start interacting with the program within a minute of startup. Even if it is just minimized it takes so long to bring up the screen. And the search function, I still have to figure that out. Why does it remove all punctuation? I would like to type "fairport, ny"; which is not in Virginia, Ohio or Maryland? But it only lets me type "fairport ny". I don't know how they did it, but I cannot enter the "," in advanced find - BIZZARE! I find myself giving up on the find feature and simply panning the map to find the location myself - I guess I should read the manual. And why, when I am trying to fix a route that it calculated for me, do I have to be careful to select the correct lane of the freeway? If I select the lane in the opposite direction it will draw a route that has me pass the point, get off, return past the spot on the other side of the freeway, then get off again and back on in the original direction! This is certainly a very powerful feature, maybe there is even one customer who uses it! To sum it up - it has many powerful features, but I just want a mapping program! I'm only getting started here... but maybe I've said enough!
Rating:
Summary: Long-time repeat customer buys his *last* copy ever :(
Review: SA USA 2004 is either my 4th or 5th upgrade in the popular Street Atlas USA series. I will be removing it from my machine, reinstalling the older version, and living with the lack of updates. The folks at Delorme took a wonderful, best-selling program, and crippled it. The new version is *MUCH*,*MUCH* slower, and suffers from a user interface that is completely non-standard and utterly confusing. All but the most major airports have been removed from the database; when I inquired as to whether this was a configuration error, I was told that they had to remove something to make room for new things. Pity, for the 400,000 licensed pilots in the country. The program takes an enormous amount of time to start up, and plants an "always in front" splash screen so you can't be doing something else while you're waiting. The printer interface is confusing. The map presentation is more cartoonish than in the past - maybe this is the new "XP" look, but it doesn't contribute anything to readability. When you want to zoom in, you *MUST* stroke from top-left to bottom right, no matter what you're trying to zoom in on. There are tabs for modes, and in different modes things you'd expect to work the same way work differently. I could go on and on (and on!) but I've got a life. I'm desperately hunting for a competitive product that takes up where Delorme left off in the earlier versions. My recommendation would be for a prospective buyer to look for a closeout or used copy of Street Atlas USA 8 or 9; you'll save a bunch of money and be much happier.
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